Method of manufacturing barbed wire



I heavy spools could not be effected,

Patented Jan. 3, 1928.

.o'r ro SCHMID, or RnUT INGnN, GERMANY.

ivrn 'r non OF MANUFACTURING BABIBED WIRE.

Application filed. may 12, 1924; Serial a... 712,817, and

The present inventionrelates to a method of manufacturing barbed wire ofthe kind in whlch the barbs are formed by the ends of a section ofwirethat is twisted along with the through tension wire. Up to the presentthe two wires have been twisted in the same direction throughout, amethod which complicates the manufacture by machinery ina much as duringtheftwisting operation, the entire feed spool of wire has to be rotatedwith the wirewinch. The advantage of twisting the-jwires-inoppositedireetions is that two twisted portions are continuously andsimultaneously produced and thus also two pairs of barbs. That is,double the output is obtained in a unit of time, since only one pair ofbarbs is produced when the twisting is always in the same direction.Thus the efficiency is doubled.

A further advantage is that the wire to be worked can be taken directlyfrom the feed spool, as this can remain stationary. If, for example, thewire be always twisted in the same direction, the barbed wire, aftereach twisting, must always be turned back, as otherwisethe feed wiresbecome more and more entangled; or else the entire feed spool has to beturned at each twisting,which, in view of its great weight and the shortand numerous operative periods, cannot be practically accomplished. Forsuch an operation, the machine would have to be made very heavy andwould soon need repair and attention. Moreover, such operation is quiteimpractical, as the heavy spools of wire could, scarcely be set inmotion before the operation of twisting would be terminated, and theheavy wire spools then stopped and held before they could again be setin motion. The necessary rapid movements of the due to the spools largeinertia.

The old method is thus impractical and industrially inoperative. Onwinding or twisting in the same direction the wire would have to bewound off and On the spool, and 'then on twisting, the spools would haveto be rotated about the axis of the barb wire. This winding on thespool, which is obviated by the present invention is costly in both timeand money, labor and apparatus This is eliminated by the present erationis carried on directly from the spool which remains stationary. About200 meters at most are wound on a spool, and the operainvention, as opinGermany November 1, 1923.

tion is very rapid, asthe 200 metersareused up in a short-time, andlarger spools cannot be used on account of too great weight.

The barbed wire of the present inventionhas barbs which are twisted tothe'right and left alternately. According to the invention this enablestwo successive (sectional lengths) of'wire to be twisted simultaneouslyand in such a way that the wire winch remains at rest. I The manner ofcarrying out the method consists in feeding the wire adistance'equal totwo twist sections at a time. Theusual clamping tools are situated tothe right and left of the two sectional lengths'of wire'that are to betwisted, whilst the twist- Eng tool acts in an intermediate position.In-

stead of making two twists at a time, each twistcan be producedseparately in which event the twisting tool is rotated in one directionto make the first twist and back again in making the second twist. Y-Animprovement in the method of manufacturing this barbed wire consistsin that the one wire-for example, the wire out of which the barbs areafterwards formed, is thinner than the other. The employment of wires ofdifferent thickness has the advantage that the thinner wire entwines inan exceedingly firm manner with the thicker one in the twisting process.The wire is also more effectually protected by the longer wire.

In this case, the manufacture is attended with the difiiculty that thethinner wire has a tendency in twisting to merely lap itself round thethicker wire instead of the two intertwining uniformly. In order toobtain such uniformity the two wires must be.

gripped so firmly in advance and in rear of the section to be twistedthat they cannot shift in the clamps but remain in their relativeposition therein.

Barbed wire according to the method of the present invention isillustrated 'in the drawing in two typical .embodiments. i

Fig. '1 shows two wires of equal thickness in untwistedcondition; c

Fig. 2 shows the wires after twisting; Fig. 3 shows a finished sectionof barbed wire; 7

.Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are views similarrespeo' tively to Figs. 1, 2 and 3,but with wires of unequal thickness I The two wires to be treated, a andI) lie closely positioned side by side and in the embodiment shown arefirmly held in their relative position on bothsides of the sections c tobe twisted by clamping devices 6. The two wires a and h are then grippedin the center of the section 0 by a twisting tool d and twisted, thusformingthe twist sections 6 the spirals of which run in oppositedirections. The one wire 6 is next cut through and its ends 7 are bentoutward so as to form the barbs: whereupon thewires a and b are moved aworking sectional length onward and the process repeated.

I claim z- 1. The method of manufacturing single strand barbed wirefrom' a plurality of strands comprising twisting said strands to getheralternately in oppositedirections at the points of securement of thebarbs. and

cutting all the strands but one between said points of securemeut,forming barbs.

2. In the method of manufacturing single strand barbed wire as claimedin claim 1. using for the wire forming the barbs a strand of differentthickness from that of the sustaining strand. I

3. In a method of manufacturing barbed wire, firmly holding the mainwire and the wire to form the barbs in their relative positions atpoints in front and to'the rear of the sections to be twisted and'the'ntwisting the wires at a point'midway of the holding points. I

4. In a method of'manutacturing barbed wire, firmly holding the mainwire and the wire to form the barbs in their relative positions atpoints in front and to the rearof the sections to be twisted and thentwisting the wires at a point midway of the holding points, and usingfor the wire forming the barbs, a wire of diff rent thickness from thatof the other wire. a p

5. In a method-of manufacturing single: strand barbed wire, twisting thewire forming each successive pair of barbs in opposite directions andfirmly gripping the main wire and-the wire forming the barbs,.at onepoint, and then intertwisting the wires at a point removed from said'onepoint. ,7

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

O'llTO- SCHMID.

